Author: Leigh Banks

It’s been months of bitter bitching bad-tempered barracking but never boring dirty-tricks campaigning but now the US election is drawing to an close. And the BBC has been fact-checking the candidates all along the trail .. They say that Donald Trump has been far more active and that there has been a continuation of false… Continue reading Bitter, bitchy but never boring – has bumbling Biden been trumped by gobby Donald?

Jeremy Corbyn has asked the Labour Party to take him back into the party following his comments on the report on anti-Semitism during his leadership. He said he was ]’very shocked and disappointed’ after the party said he would have the whip removed. Corbyn said: “I’ve been in the Labour Party all my life. I want… Continue reading Phew, Phew, barmy old Jezza? The facts behind his take-me-back plea

By regular contributor Dorrie Bridge Silver screens will flicker on in the long goodnight of entertainment history. But in Moston, Manchester, where I have lived all my life, these ‘stars’ are being extinguished. The MIP, The Adelphi, The Fourways and the Victory, are all gone for faceless flats and apartments. We are losing grand elegant… Continue reading How the magnificence of Moston’s cinematic history is being replaced with ‘little boxes’

The market for the cemetery lamps is estimated to be worth several hundred millions. The numbers of lamps bought are huge. An average grave is covered almost entirely in them through the week of All Saints.

The Czech Republic has brought in a curfew in its battle to curb coronavirus. Health Minister Roman Prymula said measures already in place — closing bars, restaurants, most shops and schools — had failed to bring the infection rate down. Slovakia too is tightening restrictions with shopping times for different age groups, bar and cafe… Continue reading As Czechs bring in curfew and Slovaks begin mass testing, more start to believe Covid is a conspiracy

As the second wave of coronavirus locks down central Europe fears are growing over pressure on already-strained health staff. Two decades of emigration and historic underfunding are being blamed. Staffing could become even more critical than equipment shortages across the region. Medical staff have been leaving central Europe in their thousands since 2004 when their… Continue reading Two decades of ‘medic migration’ rocks central Europe as Covid hits home again

We at the Preservation Society know it can be difficult being a foreigner in a foreign land … not having a command of the language, feeling isolated and simply not being sure what is going on. So we will be giving regular updates on the extraordinary lock down in Slovakia, the reasons for it, what’s… Continue reading Ex-pats in new Slovak lock-down … let’s help each other AND rely on our local friends

Covid 19 is a runaway train according to Slovak PM Igor Matovič as he mobilises the army to carry out millions of tests and imposes a curfew-style lock-down. “It’s as if we were travelling on a train whose brakes have stopped working,” he said, according to the SITA newswire. “We have to stop the train… Continue reading Covid a runaway train, says Slovak PM as we face Halloween curfew, tests and fines – and ‘come home’ plea goes out to doctors

A family-owned television station with almost 30 years of broadcast history has made it into the new age of ‘streaming’. Airtv International has joined Roku, one of the world’s biggest entertainment and news platforms. Roku was recently voted ‘favourite’ streaming system, with the most streaming app options, the simplest interface and the best search. Rodney… Continue reading Leigh will, Rodney will… Roku on Airtv International

The hedonistic 60s are making a hazy comeback thanks to the predilections of some of the era’s greatest artists. We already know that Bob Dylan was the Mr Beaujolais Jangles of his generation and his mate Carlos Santana was one of the smoothest tokers in Vegas. But some say that Bob gave up the booze… Continue reading Roll up! Roll up! Say cheers to Whiskey Bob and old toker Carlos